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zondag 20 mei 2012

The CW had been open to launching as many as six new drama series next season and it may still do it. The network picked up five pilots to series and the one that just missed the cut, The Selection, remains in serious contention. I hear CW brass are planning to sit down with the producers of the project next week to discuss its redeveloping. Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, who wrote the adaptation of Kiera Cass’ novels, are expected to remain on board but instead of staying close to the source material as they did this season, they will likely use the books more of a jumping-off point the second time around. The cast is expected to change, but the CW and The Selection studio Warner Bros TV are looking to keep the lead – Friday Night Lights‘ Aimee Teegarden — who got high marks. The project is being put on a fast track and, if it comes together, could join the CW’s schedule in midseason. “I truly believe that there is a series in The Selection,” CW president Mark Pedowitz said after the network’s upfront presentation today.

As part of Pedowitz’s efforts to re-introduce comedy series on the network, the CW developed several half-hour scripts. None of them was picked up to pilot — Pedowitz explained the decision with the need to stabilize the schedule, which is done easier with hourlong series. Now that he feels the lineup is in good shape, Pedowitz said he will focus attention on comedies. Of the half-hour scripts that the CW developed this past cycle, two remain in contention: an adaptation of the 2009 British comedy FM starring pre-Bridesmaids Chris O’Dowd, about two radio DJs and their producers; and the Ben McMillan- and Josh Greenbaum-written and Craig Zadan- and Neil Meron-produced Swordfighting, about two young couples. While one of the scripts is written as a single-camera and one as multi-, both may be done as single-camera as the CW will likely re-introduce scripted comedy to its drama-heavy lineup with single-camera shows. Like The Selection, the two comedy projects could be piloted off cycle and launch later in the season.

After the CW upfront presentation, Pedowitz also addressed the network’s plan for an October fall launch. He said that the network’s fall lineup will roll out from October 1-10. He said that with the network’s previous strategy of starting early, their shows would open well and then when the broadcast premiere week hits with several dozen series/season premieres, they would “lose traction.” By launching after the new shows on the other broadcast networks had already been sampled for two weeks, he hopes the CW shows won’t lose momentum and will also be able to air originals uninterrupted through December. The CW’s first-ever summer schedule will run through September for a seamless transition.

While I hear 11 episodes is the target for the final season of Gossip Girl, Pedowitz said that talks with studio Warner Bros. TV are ongoing and the final number would likely be between 10-12 episodes. He stressed that the upcoming eighth season of Supernatural is absolutely not envisioned to be the show’s final. He said that the move of Nikita from 8 PM to 9 PM on Friday, where it is facing NBC’s Grimm and Fox’s Fringe, was made to give its affiliates a better news lead-in as Nikita is a broader, older-skewing show. He also noted that its series adaptation of Deadman is not dead and he is proud of having Ringer on the air. It was a “complicated serial show” that was also hurt by a long midseason hiatus, leading to its cancellation but its star Sarah Michelle Gellar “is coming back to this network as a producer or as an actress,” Pedowitz said.

Pedowitz was the latest network topper to express frustration over Dish’s proposed Auto Hop feature, which automatically erases commercials from shows, saying it will “bite the hand that supplies the content” and indicating that the satcaster should “pay suppliers for all ad revenue they are losing.”

If there was a cable industry in the Bizarro World then it might have an annual trade show like the one that will take place Monday to Wednesday in Boston. For starters, only someone from the planet in Superman comics where everything is backward — police commit crimes, sanitation workers throw garbage around, etc. — would think execs might enjoy trying to book a hotel room in Boston in the middle of college graduation season. What’s even stranger, though, is that some of cable’s biggest champions won’t be there, but some of its most nettlesome adversaries will. No-shows start with the King of Cable, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts — who lately has used the annual event to evangelize the latest gee-whiz technologies. Also, for the first time in memory Viacom’s MTV Networks won’t have a presence on the trade show floor. It couldn’t justify the expense at a time when cable operators are more interested in dumping channels than in paying for new ones. Others seem to feel the same way: The show will have more than 200 exhibitors, down from about 277 last year, and they’ll take up 120,000 square feet, down from 140,000.

It’s intriguing to see who will attend, though. Netflix, which has done more than anyone to help consumers cut the cable TV cord, will send Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. That could revive speculation that operators might offer Netflix as a premium service like HBO — a notion that they’ve consistently dismissed. In addition, Google is sending at least two execs. Hard to imagine that they’d get a warm welcome as their company prepares its Google Fiber test in Kansas City; the company is building a state-of-the-art fiber optic network capable of transmitting video and broadband. And Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead will show. His company was considered in the enemy camp until late last year when Comcast and other operators reached a controversial $3.6B deal to sell spectrum to Verizon and cross market products in territories where they don’t go head-to-head with FiOS.

Since the industry is eager to cut spending, insiders say there probably won’t be as much big news as we’ve seen in previous gatherings. A lot of talk about new apps, and incremental advances in existing technologies. Yet we could hear some interesting comments about progress in TV Everywhere, broadband pricing (especially after Comcast’s latest change), and whether streaming services such as Netflix are luring viewers from conventional TV.

Filmed auditions start in Liverpool on Wednesday but bosses are still searching for a permanent replacement for Kelly Rowland after Dannii Minogue rejected a £1m offer to return.

Producers are said to be worried that it is too late to secure an A-list star like Katy Perry and fear they could end up with Sinitta on the judging panel.

"Rod is a genuine living legend and exactly what the show needs. The details are still to be ironed out but it looks like he'll be at the auditions next month in London and possibly Glasgow because of his Scottish heritage," a source told The Mirror.

"He's sold more than 100 million records worldwide so he knows exactly what it takes to succeed in the tough world of showbusiness, and hopefully he'll also be a big draw for viewers who might not have been fans of The X Factor before.

"It's a big coup to get him involved and Simon Cowell is absolutely thrilled."

Plans to hire Perry, who proved popular as a guest judge in 2010, were apparently sidelined as bosses pursued Minogue.

"Katy was a big hit with viewers when she appeared on the show, but Simon didn't act fast enough to land her for this year," the source added. "It looks like getting her now is impossible because of her other commitments.

"We have known there was an empty space to be filled for months, but it has become more and more obvious over the last 24 hours that nobody has any idea who will fill the empty slot.

"Simon had put all his eggs in one basket with Dannii Minogue, and now everyone is scratching their heads wondering who they can get. Nobody wants another boring last-minute filler like Carmen Electra, but it's almost impossible to get an A-list star with just a few days' notice."

Estelle, LeAnn Rimes and Westlife singer Kian Egan are among those being considered for the job.

Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow and Tulisa Contostavlos will return to The X Factor, as well as host Dermot O'Leary.

Cuba Gooding Jr GuiltyThe broadcast networks left an uncharacteristically small number of pilots in midseason contention this year. The strongest among them is the Fox drama Guilty starring Cuba Gooding Jr, who tested very high. The network picked up only two new drama series for next season, making a third order a possibility despite limited shelf space.

Magical procedural Gotham still has a pulse at ABC and also is exploring a potential cable play. There are several pilots that are dead but their concepts are not: ABC comedy Only Fools And Horses, based on a British series and which is a favorite of ABC boss Paul Lee, will likely be redeveloped. Ditto for American Judy as ABC brass love star Judy Greer and the fish-out-of-water premise of her pilot this year and are looking to develop a new vehicle for her in that vein.

Similarly, the CW is expected to take another stab at developing a TV series based on The Selection series of books by Kiera Cass. The network brass are very keen on having a show on the air that is thematically close to the blockbuster The Hunger Games movie franchise the way the network’s hit The Vampire Diaries is to Twilight.

"Who" equaled its highest 18-49 rating in 11 weeks and delivered its biggest overall audience in eight weeks while the "Grimm" finale matched its highest 18-49 rating since January 20 and attracted its biggest overall audience since that same date.

The Alphabet then offered up the season finale of "Shark Tank" (5.53 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2) alongside originals of "Primetime: What Would You Do?" (4.33 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T3) and "20/20" (4.43 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T3).

And finally, The CW (1.52 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) closed out the evening with the season finales of "Nikita" (1.47 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #13) and "Supernatural" (1.58 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.6, #12).

In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.7/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.1/5; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.9/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.5/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4; "Late Show," 0.5/2; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/4 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.1/3). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.2/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (5/20/11):

FOX (3.67 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1) was the network to beat on the final Friday of the May sweeps period with the season finale of "Kitchen Nightmares" (3.84 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.6, #1) followed by an encore of "Kitchen Nightmares" (3.49 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3).

ABC (4.53 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #2) then took home the silver with a repeat of "Shark Tank" (4.15 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T6) followed by the season finale of "Primetime: What Would You Do?" (3.94 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) and a new "20/20" (5.52 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2).

And finally, a new "Supernatural" (2.06 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T11) led into the season finale of "Supernatural" (2.21 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T11) on The CW (2.14 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5).

In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 3.2/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.3/5; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.1/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.5/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4; "Late Show," 0.6/2; "Nightline," 1.1/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.6/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.2/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/2).

At 1:35 a.m., Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 1.0/4 in metered-market households and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

ABC is #1 on the Final Friday of the Season/"Shark Tank" Marks its Best Season Ever

ABC ranked #1 on the final Friday of the season in Adults 18-49.

The season finale of ABC's Shark Tank posted a strong first-place finish in the 8 o'clock hour among Adults 18-49, beating the finale of NBC's Who Do You Think You Are? by 50%. In addition, Shark Tank was the top-rated TV show of the evening on the major nets in Adults 18-34, holding a 30% advantage over runner-up NBC's season finale of Grimm.

On average, Shark Tank surged over the prior season by double-digit percentages in Total Viewers (+18%) and Adults 18-49 (+29%), marking its strongest-ever season on both Nielsen measures.

Opposite the season ender of NBC's Grimm in the 9 o'clock hour, ABC's Primetime: What Would You Do? took second place against its rivals across all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54).

The ABC newsmagazine grew its overall audience from the same night last year by 8%.

From 10-11pm, ABC's 20/20 defeated NBC's Dateline by 9% in Adults 18-49, winning the newsmagazine race in the hour on all 4 Fridays of the 2012 May Sweep. Anchored by Elizabeth Vargas and featuring reports from Vargas, Deborah Roberts, John Berman and Jay Schadler, 20/20 took viewers into the lives of people with some of medicine's most rare conditions

A detail may have been revealed about this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special and the new companion…

We’ll be upfront. What follows is (much like all the best stuff on the web) about 98% conjecture based upon 2% of fact, but here goes anyway.

The tiniest of Who nuggets has been dug up from today’s Doctor Who Adventures magazine (the one for kiddiewinks), and it pertains to the first appearance of the Doctor’s new companion in the 2012 Christmas special. It’s only a line from the ‘Rumours’ section of the mag, and a speculative one at that, but it may just reveal something important.

Are you ready? Because here it comes…

“Will the Christmas episode feature a spooky ghost?”

There.

Now make of that what you will, but it occurs to us that seeing as we’ve already had a ‘ghosts of Christmas past’ Scrooge special, could the message underneath that tentative line be an admission that the new companion, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman, is to be of the spooky ghost variety? In all likelihood, probably not, but that doesn’t stop it being fun to consider. If not a ghost herself, then perhaps she meets the Doctor after crossing the streams on a ghostbusting mission? Or maybe it turns out she's the sheet-wearing janitor who's been scaring the kids away from the old haunted theme park. Or... Okay, yes, we'll stop now.

Other news confirmed in the magazine is that Mark Gatiss will indeed be returning to pen an episode of the upcoming series, which is always cause for celebration.

Almost a decade after the finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we find out what the Scooby Gang and co. have been up to since the hellmouth opened…

They say you know you’re getting on in years when policemen start getting younger. Well, vampires getting older has much the same effect. Many of you won’t welcome the news that James Marsters, the actor behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s follicaly-fried erstwhile villain Spike, is to celebrate his fiftieth birthday this year. Because if Spike’s fifty, it means we’re all getting old too.

It’s over fifteen years since the first TV episode of Buffy aired in the US, and this Sunday marks nine since Buffy’s “Grrr. Argghh” monster delivered its final “Grrr. Aargh”. You may have followed the Scooby Gang since then in comic, animated series, or spin-off form, but many of us that day just gently closed the show’s eyelids, bowed our heads respectfully, and walked away.

But what of Whedon’s cast? How has the past decade treated that gaggle of faux teenagers, big bads and librarians? (Well, okay, just the one librarian). Join us on a quick trawl through what Buffy et al did next…

Sarah Michelle Gellar

The Scooby Gang member who took the nickname somewhat literally, Sarah Michelle Gellar bracketed her final years as Buffy with two appearances in the live-action Scooby Doo movies. She followed that up with a bit of J-horror remake action in the form of The Grudge one and two, and some generic thrillers, though none really managed to cement her position as a film actress.

Following the success of Donnie Darko, Richard Kelly’s 2006 Southland Tales must have seemed like a good bet for Gellar, but nobody quite predicted the cluster fiasco that picture would turn out to be. The blame for that can’t be laid at the feet of Gellar, but her next few limited release and straight-to-DVD roles also did little to strengthen her film career, which even voicing April O’Neil in 2007’s TMNT wasn’t able to get back on track. A return to TV it was, with a string of appearances in Seth Green’s animated comedy series Robot Chicken, some Saturday Night Live hosting, and a cameo in the show that started it all for Gellar: ABC’s All My Children.

The recent Gellar vehicle Ringer (in which she plays identical twins) was something of a non-starter, getting a 22-episode series order but being cancelled for low ratings towards the end of its run. Her next move appears to be a more domestic one, as the actress is currently knocked up with her second child. Yup, our Buffy’s a mum. What was that about feeling old?

Alyson Hannigan

Despite not really aiming high post-Buffy (she turned up in bit-part comedy roles and movie spoofs like Farce of the Penguins and Date Movie immediately after the series ended), Alyson Hannigan has ended up as probably the most recognisable on-screen presence of the Buffy graduates. Her secret? Two long running series: one a movie franchise, the other a Friends-style sitcom. And it all began with one really filthy line…

Hannigan filmed the first three American Pie pictures alongside her role as Willow in Buffy, going from a supporting part to series regular thanks to a particularly naughty performance (and that line), which pulled the rug from Michelle's sweet ‘n’ innocent persona. A short turn in Veronica Mars, some cameos in Mike Judge animations, and her own Robot Chicken appearance later, Hannigan scored the part of Lily in 2005 sitcom pilot, How I Met Your Mother opposite Jason Segel. The rest, as they say, is history. The show has just concluded its seventh season, and is to return in the autumn for another round.

Hannigan has also kept herself intermittently busy by marrying Alexis Denisof (aka Buffy’s Wesley Wyndham Price) in 2003, banging out a sprog, and being (at the time of writing) pregnant with her second.

Quite a bit of theatre, actually, as well as 13 episodes of 2005 sitcom, Kitchen Confidential, co-starring Bradley Cooper, and a web comic about koalas on the run. Nicholas Brendon, like many of the rest of the Buffy cast, has also been a regular on the convention circuit since the show ended, and along with Tony Head, Alyson Hannigan and others (not Sarah Michelle-Gellar, it should be said) provided the voice for his character in the animated Buffy series and video games.

Along with a spin on Private Practice, Brendon has also had a recurring role on FBI profiling crime drama Criminal Minds since 2007, the irony of which wasn’t lost on those reporting on the actor’s recent arrest. It would be indecorous to go into the problems of Brendon’s personal life, though it is safe to say though that 2009 TV movie A Golden Christmas isn’t technically his most criminal act…

Anthony Head

Tony Head has maintained a very public post-Buffy profile on this side of the Atlantic, so much so that we hardly need remind you of his central role in the BBC’s Merlin between 2008-2011. Before that, there were those Little Britain sketches, and bit-parts in a number of UK comedy and drama series, including the likes of Spooks, Silent Witness, Monarch of the Glen, and My Family. Though Joss Whedon’s proposed 'Ripper' spin-off didn’t come to anything, Rupert Giles has been a more or less constant presence on our screens since the end of Buffy.

Head’s involvement in Doctor Who probably won’t have escaped you, from his role as a demon-y headmaster opposite the tenth doctor in School Reunion to web work, Big Finish audio plays, and becoming the voice of Doctor Who Confidential. He may not have got the part of the eighth doctor in the 1996 TV film, but that hasn't stopped him from having fingers in a number of Doctor Who pies over the years.

In terms of film, we saw him pop up recently as a wimpy Geoffrey Howe in the largely celebratory Thatcher biopic, The Iron Lady, and as Will’s dad in 2011’s The Inbetweeners Movie. Head is currently filming the Percy Jackson sequel, and has no plans as yet to release a follow-up to his 2002 album. Shame, that.

David Boreanaz

One word: Bones. Well, okay, two words: Bones, and Angel. That more or less sums up where David Boreanaz has been hanging out since he left Buffy at the end of series three. His Angel spin-off ran to five seasons, and took a couple of choice members of the Buffy cast with it (Cordy and Wesley, to be precise, though others popped up too in the various crossover episodes), before he bagged the role of FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth in Bones, and there he’s been ever since. In fact, Boreanaz is probably more recognisable to today’s TV viewing public for the crime drama, which has just been renewed for its eighth season, than he is as tortured soul/LA detective Angel.

There were forays into film, but most of them are best forgotten (his direct-to-DVD The Crow sequel with Tara Reid should be expressly avoided). There was a summer sex comedy, an action crime thriller, a girls’ basketball pic, and a horror-com, but none of them come highly recommended.

No, it’s TV-land where Boreanaz has made his name (even if no-one can pronounce it), and TV shows are evidently something the actor has no difficulty remaining faithful to, which is more than we can say about his… Let’s just stop there, shall we?

James Marsters

More than any of the others, James Marsters has remained a card-carrying member of the geek brigade, popping up in sci-fi and fantasy shows on both sides of the Atlantic. Marsters has had recurring roles in Smallville, Torchwood, and Caprica, as well as showing up briefly in Supernatural (alongside fellow Buffy alum Charisma Carpenter), and providing voices for characters in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Superman: Doomsday.

He’s served the geek world proud. No FBI profilers or sitcom characters for him, when it comes to Marsters, it’s all alien super-villains and omnisexual time-travellers. Good old Spike. With that cache of TV work, it makes you grateful his film career never really got off the ground.

Charisma Carpenter

It’s part of Buffy lore that, like her on-screen squeeze Xander, Charisma Carpenter had a good ten years on her high school queen bee character Cordelia Chase when Buffy began. Another nugget fondly trotted out by fans is that the actress and Sarah Michelle Gellar originally auditioned for each other’s roles, something which worked out in the end when Cordy left Sunnydale to become a founding member of Angel investigations with her very own slayer-ish powers (well, migraines, but she got to slay some demons at least). A couple of good seasons went by before her Angel character underwent some seriously weird treatment and left under a cloud the show’s producers are still yet to fully explain.

No matter, because Carpenter kept busy after departing the Whedonverse, with a string of parts on the likes of Charmed, Veronica Mars and recently, teen soap drama, The Lying Game.

Film-wise, she had a recent small role in Sly Stallone’s The Expendables and is soon to be seen in The Expendables 2. Other bit-parts and TV movies were less successful, such as her 2004 sex comedy What Boys Like, which currently boasts the dubious honour of a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Eliza Dushku

Dushku’s post-Buffy and Angel TV career has been dominated by two Fox series, both cancelled early on by the network after two seasons: Tru Calling (in which she co-starred with The Hangover actor Zach Galifianakis) and Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. Dushku was joined by the man behind her Buffy character’s former watcher, Alexis Denisof in Dollhouse, a show populated by a number of Joss Whedon’s repeat collaborators.

The same roster of TV bit-parts and largely inconsequential movies came to Dushku post-Buffy (including a geek-tastic role in Torchwood spin-off Web of Lies), but none of her movie parts has yet come close to giving her the exposure of her TV roles. It says something that 2000’s cheerleading pic, Bring It On, is probably still Dushku’s best known film role.

Emma Caulfield

Former Beverley Hills 90210 and General Hospital actress Emma Caulfield made such an impression as vengeance demon Anya in season three of Buffy, that much like the character of Spike, her small role was extended to make Anya a series regular. If the rumour mill is spitting out the good stuff, then Caulfield was apparently approached about the roles of No. 6 and Kara Thrace on the reimagined Battlestar Galactica when Buffy came to an end, but let both pass, instead doing a short stint on Seth Green’s Robot Chicken then three recurring roles in TV dramas Life Unexpected, Gigantic and self-created Bandwagon. She made an impression recently in fairy-tale series Once Upon a Time, as illustrated in her witch-y image above.

There have been movies too for Caulfield, though her big-screen debut, 2003’s Darkness Falls is probably still her best known work on the big-screen, and unfortunately not for any of the right reasons.

Danny Strong

Not a regular Scooby member, nor even one of the white hats for season six, Danny Strong’s Jonathan was an intermittent but key part of Buffy. Since leaving Sunnydale, Strong has flitted from hit show to hit show, with recurring parts in Gilmore Girls and season four of Mad Men as well as a host of supporting movie roles.

Most interesting though is Strong’s recent move into film writing, which he’s making no small headway doing. Following a couple of shorts, Strong is part of the team writing Lee Daniels’ upcoming The Butler White House biopic, and of that working on forthcoming Dan Brown adaptation, The Lost Symbol. Not too shabby for young Jonathan there.

Not Going Out rallied to a series high for the last episode of its sixth run last night (Friday).

The Lee Mack sitcom pulled in a slot-winning 4.69m (20.9%) at 9.30pm, increasing over 500k week-on-week.

With another batch of episodes due next year, the comedy has increased its average audience (4.3m) on the 2011 series (4.1m), despite airing in the spring instead of winter.

Have I Got News For You - guest hosted by Kathy Burke - gave Not Going Out a solid lead-in of 5.43m (23.8%), while 3.68m (15.9%) watched Would I Lie To You? at 8.30pm.

The Graham Norton Show, featuring Will Smith, Gary Barlow and Sir Tom Jones, jumped to a new series high of 4.08m (28.2%) from 10.35pm.

Elsewhere, Lulu's turn on Piers Morgan's Life Stories attracted 4.55m (20.1%) to ITV1 in the 9pm hour, and 247k on timeshift. The News at Ten interested a larger-than-usual 2.26m (11.9%) at 10pm (+1: 113k), closing the gap on BBC News, which had 4.16m (21.2%).

Poms in Paradise performed respectably against a popular edition of EastEnders, grabbing 2.99m (13.4%) at 8pm (+1: 138k). ITV's soaps also drew typically strong audiences between 7pm and 9pm.

Over on BBC Two, Coast (1.94m/8.7%) and Mastermind (2.05m/8.8%) scored good numbers, but the channel's audience fell for Maestro at the Opera (873k/3.9%) at 9pm and Episodes (984k/5.1%) an hour later.

Channel 4 stayed under the million mark until 10pm with Come Dine with Me (875k/3.8%), 8 Out of 10 Cats (960k/4.2%) and Very Important People (904k/4%). However, the programmes added 211k, 285k and 127k respectively.

Comedian Alan Carr attracted 1.43m (8.3%) for his chatshow at 10pm, appealing to a further 258k on Channel 4 +1 an hour later.

The Mentalist anchored Channel 5's night with 1.53m (6.7%) in the 9pm hour, with Dirty Great Machines (769k/3.4%) and Castle (823k/4.6%) airing either side of the hit import.

Doctor Who star Karen Gillan has said that her exit from the show won't be "what people expect".

Gillan (Amy) and Arthur Darvill (Rory) will both depart the sci-fi drama midway through its seventh series.

The pair's final episode was recently filmed in New York and will feature the return of the monstrous Weeping Angels.

Gillan told Total Film of reading the script for her final show: "I literally couldn't read it without crying. It was the most highly-charged read-through I've ever experienced. But I couldn't have asked for a better exit. I don't think it'll be what people expect."

The actress also expressed her support for a Doctor Who movie, saying: "I think it would be great in a franchise-y sort of way. I'd look forward to sitting down and watching it."

However, she remained tight-lipped on her possible involvement. "Oh, who knows, I guess you can only cross that bridge when you come to it!" she said.

Jenna-Louise Coleman will make her debut as the Doctor's new companion at Christmas.

"Community" creator Dan Harmon, who was fired from his show Friday by Sony Pictures Television, said the company has not called him to explain the firing and that he will not be staying on as a consultant.

dan harmonSony, which owns the ratings-challenged NBC comedy, replaced Harmon as show runner of "Community" with "Happy Endings" writers David Guarascio and Moses Port. Harmon said in a post on his Tmblr account that he didn't know why he was fired from the show, which will enter its fourth season and first without Harmon.

"Why’d Sony want me gone? I can’t answer that because I’ve been in as much contact with them as you have," Harmon wrote. "They literally haven’t called me since the season four pickup, so their reasons for replacing me are clearly none of my business. 'Community' is their property, I only own ten percent of it, and I kind of don’t want to hear what their complaints are because I’m sure it would hurt my feelings even more now that I’d be listening for free."

Harmon disputed NBC entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt's comments to reporters Sunday when he said he expected -- before the firing -- that Harmon would remain with the show. Greenblatt said he did not know if Harmon would remain on as show runner, but said he believed Harmon would continue, at least, as a consultant.

Harmon said that a standard protective clause in his contract designates that he will remain "an executive consulting something or other." But he said he would have no real power.

"Guys like me can’t actually just be shot and left in a ditch by Skynet, we’re still allowed to have a title on the things we create and 'help out,' like, I guess sharpening pencils and stuff," he said. He added that he had asked his assistant to clear out his office.

NBC did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday morning on Harmon's statements, and Sony declined comment.

Harmon said Greenblatt "never called me once in the entire duration of his employment at NBC. He didn’t call me to say he was starting to work there, he didn’t call me to say I was no longer working there and he definitely didn’t call to ask if I was going to be involved. I’m not saying it’s wrong for him to have bigger fish to fry, I’m just saying, NBC is not a credible source of All News Dan Harmon."

He added: "I’m not saying seasons 1, 2 and 3 were my definition of perfect television, I’m just saying that whatever they’re going to do for season 4, they’re aiming to do without my help. So do not believe anyone that tells you on Monday that I quit or diminished my role so I could spend more time with my loved ones, or that I negotiated and we couldn’t come to an agreement, etc.

It couldn’t be less true because, just to make this clear, literally nobody called me."

Harmon has clashed with Chevy Chase, one of the stars in the show's ensemble cast, but Greenblatt said last week that that was not a factor in whether Harmon would stay with the show.

Harmon's "Community" co-show runners, Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan, left the show for a two-year deal in which they will develop and supervise new projects for 20th Century Fox TV.

According to TMZ, producers for the US singing competition asked if the dancing dog act would perform on the show's finale, which takes place next Tuesday (May 22) and Wednesday (May 23).

However, it is reported that the offer was turned down as the duo are too busy since their BGT win earlier in the month to fit in the commitment.

The website also states, however, that Ashleigh & Pudsey will be making their way to New York and Los Angeles for other major TV appearances, and will be meeting with several producers during their trip.

Britain's Got Talent judge Simon Cowell has also vowed to fly the teenager and her dog to LA on his private jet after lining up a series of auditions for movie roles.

The act are reportedly being tapped to appear on the next series of Big Brother as part of a dog-training task.

Cheryl Cole and Kylie Minogue will perform during The Voice UK's semi-final results show, it has been confirmed.

It was rumoured that the pair would appear earlier this month, and it was reported yesterday (May 17) that Cole was using Gwyneth Paltrow's personal trainer Tracy Anderson to help her work out ahead of the unconfirmed guest slot.

The BBC has now announced that the pair will sing during the semi-final results show on Sunday, May 27, stating: "It is the eliminations again and this time there is more at stake than ever... a place in The Voice UK live final. Eight artists remain, but only one artist from each team will make it through.

"As the drama unfolds, international superstar Kylie Minogue and pop princess Cheryl Cole will also be performing exclusively in the Voice arena."

Cole is currently working on her third studio album A Million Lights, and has reportedly teamed up with Wretch 32 for track 'Screw You'.

Minogue has announced plans to release a compilation of her greatest hits, The Best of Kylie Minogue, in the UK on June 4 and in the US on June 19.

The Voice UK's Team Danny have said that they want to meet Simon Cowell.

The foursome also opened up about the closeness between them, and about the Aleks Josh and Becky Hill romance rumours.

Asked whether they are friends during a touchy-feely interview, David Julien initially joked: "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Why do you think I'm letting him [Max Milner] feel my boobs?"

However, later Bo Bruce clarified: "We love it when we're all together.

"I think all the teams are quite close, but we particularly feel like buddies."

When the subject of the Hill romance speculation was raised, Josh said: "Ask them," pointing at his teammates and adding: "Don't be kn*bheads."

Julien then said: "I think it's that friendship connection, isn't it? Everyone finds someone that they are more friends with."

Josh teased in response: "I saw you [Julien] with that male cleaner."

When asked what they think of recent comments from Cowell and Louis Walsh about The Voice UK, the four said that they are not aware of any criticisms and that they are simply focusing on what they are doing rather than what Simon Cowell thinks of them.

However, Julien went on to say about the X Factor boss: "He'd be a nice guy to meet though," with the others all agreeing.

Bruce commented: "I'd quite like to meet him," and Josh suggested that he should visit the show as a "talent scout".

Disney XD has picked up its top series Lab Rats for a second season. Created and executive produced by Chris Peterson and Bryan Moore, the sci-fi comedy is about a teenager who lands the ultimate wish fulfillment when he gets three super-human step-siblings. It stars Billy Unger, Spencer Boldman, Kelli Berglund, Tyrel Jackson Williams and Hal Sparks.

Its premiere was Disney XD’s No. 1 original series telecast of all time in total viewers and key 6-14 and 9-14 demos, and Lab Rats is now pacing as the network’s highest-rated series ever in total viewers (1.1 million), kids 2-11 (684,000/1.7 rating), kids 6-14 (719,000/2.0 rating), kids 6-11 (563,000/2.3 rating) and tweens 9-14 (489,000/2.0 rating). “Chris and Bryan have created a smart comedy about a bionic family with a twist that’s tailor-made for Disney XD,” said Adam Bonnett, SVP Original Programming, Disney Channels Worldwide.